Tanzania’s benchmark coffee rises 6.6pct after supplies decline

Tanzania’s benchmark coffee grade rose 6.6 per cent at an auction on October 21 after supplies of the beans declined, the Tanzania Coffee Board said. The top Arabica AA sold for an average of $231.67 for a 50 kilogram (110-pound) bag, compared with $217.35 at the October 15 sale, the board said in an e-mailed statement from Moshi, in northern Tanzania. Supplies of the grade fell 20.7 per cent to 9,369 bags, it said.

Overall prices at the auction were high with mild arabicas gaining an average of $11.43 a bag, while robusta was $2 a bag higher, the agency said. Arabica was above $14.15 above the fair market rate per bag for arabica and $2.25 for robusta, it said. Supplies at the 12th auction of the 2010-11 season fell 24.5 per cent to 28,226 bags from 37,403 bags last week, the board said. At least 2,032 bags were carryovers from the previous auction and arabica accounted for 92.7 per cent of the beans supplied, it said. Sales at the auction fell 22.6 per cent to 27,531 bags from 35,582 bags at the previous sale. Tanzania, Africa’s fourth-biggest coffee producer after Ethiopia, Uganda and Ivory Coast, reaps its crop from April through August. Arabica accounts for 75 per cent of Tanzania’s output, while robusta accounts for the rest.